Column Title: Prospective Horizons

"Getting it Where it Counts"

By: Star Trekker

(Originally published in the September 1998 issue of Perspectives)

It goes without saying that you can get a lot about life just by reading and writing. And with a column called "Prospective Horizons," you would be suspect to thinking that it’s meant to have something you can take away after this paper gets recycled. Well it does, and in good ol’ storytelling fashion, I’ll tell you what it is.

The story begins with the editor-in-chief, whose name you’ll have to look up in the editorial board (and realize the work it takes to produce the paper), asking me if I wanted to write a column this year.

I said ‘maybe.’ Actually, I emailed a ‘maybe’ answer, but the point is, I was ambivalent, and didn’t want to commit to anything at the time. You may think, ‘what’s the big deal?’ Well, at the time I didn’t think I’d have the time this year. After all, my summer was pretty busy with work, summer classes, going away on vacation with friends, family, reading, writing, and making out with a woman I met in L.A. (fact or fiction? You decide). And what I really wanted was to spend time by myself to just relax, particularly since we had such great weather. What could be better than lazing around in a lawn chair, watching cows graze? (I’m talking about real cows…with the four legs). With sheep butting heads, lhama’s spitting at their owner, who needs the Discovery Channel?

I also asked myself if doing it was really worth it. While it can be exciting to have words in print, by then, I had lost interest. I’ve always loved writing, but by then I got more out of writing stories, novellas, essays, business contracts, and even a will then writing articles in the paper (okay, the will I did in grade 5, but it was fun to give away my ‘Made in Taiwan’ shoes that my aunt gave me, subject to my death within a 12 month period).

And there are a lot more hassles with writing articles than anything else. I mean, first off, you have to worry about length (I mean, article length guys). With essays, length isn’t a problem, because you can be longer than what the prof wants. And with stories, all that happens is you change the name of the format from ‘short story’ to ‘novella’ to ‘novel’ (from shortest to longest). For articles, if you are too long, editors just chop you.

Speaking of length, I’m approaching my limit, so I’ll have to cut the story short. Suffice it to say, I decided to write the column, mainly because I looked at it as a challenge. The more I thought about my excuses, "I don’t have the time," and "It’s not worth it," the more I realized, that even if I was busy, it was still worth it, if only because it made me realize I was becoming too comfortable with my writing. I became more concerned with how I wanted to do it than how others wanted it. And where it really counts, no one likes that.

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